St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-06-06
SALARIES WILL BE CUT
If the Railroads Refuse to Gran,
Concessions to Travellers.

If the Railroads Refuse to Grant
Concessions to Travellers.
In the issue of the GLOBE of May 30
it spoke of the concessions that had
been obtained by commercial travellers
from the railroads South and East of
Chicago, and of the effect that the inter
state commerce law has had on these
concessions. Previous to Jan. l, 1885,
1,0O0-mile tickets were sold by all the
Northwestern roads, except the North
ern Pacific and Manitoba, to CONNER
cial travellers at $50, either at flat rate,
or else at S25 per 1000 miles with re-
bate of S. upon the return of the cover.
Jan. 1, 1885, all the railroads running
West and Northwest from Chicago, eX-
cept the Rock Island system, instituted
new order of things by placing in the
hands of commercial travellers ''per-
nit back" which entitled the holder to
a rebate of two cents per mile after
1000 miles had been travelled, provided
he had properly entered all tickets
bought and signed the same. Here,
again, as theirEaStern brethren did before
the commercial travellers, with the CO.
operation of their employers, brought
the Northwestern roads to terms by
shipping the goods over the Chi
cago & Rock Island road when
it was at all possible to do So
This soon had the desired effect, and the
permit book was called in, and the mile
age ticket again issued.
What the interstate commerce law has
done for this large body of men in the
Northwest is to increase the cost of
mileage % per cent, cut down the al
lowance of baggage 25 per cent, and in
crease the cost of excess baggage books
10 per cent. No corporate attorney or
railroad company has as yet interpreted
this law to mean that the old rule of
wholesale and retail as applying to
freights by the 100 pounds or by carload
lots was prohibited, or that the rate
should be the same per 100 pounds,
whether the amount be large or small.
And it would seem that the same law of
wholesale and retail would hold good
between the commercial and the Ordi-
nary traveller. The solution might
easily be reached by the use of the 5000
mile ticket, good over all roads. These
tickets could be made good for one
year only, with no extension, and
sold to any one who would buy.
practically the ordinary traveller would
be prohibited from its use because he
could not use it within the limit. AS far
as the ticket and baggage and expense
is concerned. the only class of patrons
of RAILROADS to suffer by the operation of
this narrow Interpretation of the law is
the commercial travellers, for if it is
more expensive to travel the house will
be obliged to curtail expense some
where, and salaries will be graded on
lower scale. There is general move
ment throughout the country on the part
of manufacturers and jobberS to place
themselves in cooperation with the
fro lnnl-inn tn- n va
movement in opposition to the action of
the railroad company Oh these questions
that are of such vital Importance to both
classes, and the jobberS of the Twin
Cities should not let the present OppOr-
tunity pass to place themselves in line
with the travellers and jobbers of the
country. }s ~ o =; ~
WILL QUIT THE ROAD.
Charles DeEaittre says he will drop
his grip in few weeks.
The. Aberdeen News has the follow
ing to say of a pioneer commercial tray
eler who is about to quit the road:
''For nearly twenty gears past Charles
l.. DeLaittre, of Minneapolis, has car
| ried grip, spun yarns and filed his
order book i'll most every town in
Dakota and Minnesota. Probably no
commercial tourist in this territory is
better KNOWN HeTepresents the relia-
BILE grocery house of George r. Newell
IL CO., Minneapolis. aOn Sunday last a.
number of his fellow travellers who were
in town learned for the first time that in
a very few weeks his genial presence
among their number would be among
the things that were. In other words,
that he had decided to quit the road.
About O'Clock in the evening the large
dining room of the Sherman house
contained. about rseyenty-fve of the
men who had been his comparl-
ions, besides several of DIr. DeLaittre's
AberIleeni friends. In a few minutes
Alex w. CroZier, with Arthur, Warren
u Abbott, st. Paul, entered the room
with Mr.. DeLaittre and conducted him
to chair that was in waiting. After
the applause had ceased, James +. JOr
dan, representing Streisguth q Drake,
st. Paul, stepped out and presented a
gold-headed cane bearing suitable in
scription. Although taken completely
by surprise, Mr.. DeLaittre was equal to
the occasion, and in his usual pleasing
style thanked the boys for the gift. He
related some of the many incidents
that have occurred during his life on the
road. For four years he had sold wooden
goods, and for tlie)la sixteen years he
han sold groceries. He remembered one
time when no fret was CARRYING his